While the government has given the sluggish real estate sector a boost through a bouquet of tax reforms in the Interim Budget 2019-20, the absence of a Stress Fund’ to restart housing projects halted for a decade has left many disappointed.

In Noida and Greater Noida alone there are as many as 1.5 lakh aggrieved homebuyers awaiting possession of flats after receiving most of the payments. "The Stress Fund’ was the only option for us. The government could have invested Rs 2,000 crore and the money would have been returned after completion of the project. It was our only hope. It seems like this government, too, has no idea what homebuyers are dealing with, said Noida Extension Flat Owners Association (NEFOWA) president Abhishek Kumar.

We will vote for NOTA in this election as we have seen successive governments turning a blind eye towards us, he added. Many of these homebuyers have been forced to pay EMIs on a loan taken to build their house, as well as rent for their current accommodation.

"When my first child was born, I had booked a flat in a project of Amrapali. Now my son is in the fifth class and we don't have a home yet. The government is sleeping. The budget was utterly disappointing," said Manish, a home buyer.

Kumar said the government will wake up to the problem only when homebuyers start committing suicide like farmers. The government’s proposed tax sops in the Interim Budget incentivise the buying of second homes, provide relief for realty firms by extending tax rebate on development of affordable housing until the next financial year and increased tax-free period of notional rent on unsold units to two years. There are about 6-7 lakh of unsold units with real estate developers across seven-eight major cities.

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